Automobile-curtain and mounting.



e. F. SEAR'S, J. HNPROSE & R. T. ANDERSON.

AUTOMOBILE CURTAIN AND MOUNTING.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.9, 1914.

1,1 34,641, Patented AN. 6,- 1915.

2 SHEETS'TSHEET 1 nlmm I G. F. SEARS, I. II. PRGSEKL R. T. ANDERSON.

AUTO MOBILE CURTAIN AND MOUNTING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9. I914.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f 1 fi e /7'8 Jififfwaae UNITED STATES PATENT ornrcn.

GEORGE F. SEARS, JEHN H, PROSE, AND ROSEMOND T. ANDERSON, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA."

AUTOMOBILE-CURTAIN ANT) MOUNTING.

. Specification of Lettersl'atent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Application and January 9, 1914. Serial No. 811,225.

hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art I to which it appertains to make and use the ame.

. This-invention relates to automobile tops,

andmore particularly to the side curtains thereof,'and has for its object to provide a curtain of this kind which may be quickly and easily brought into and out of operative position. 2.

Another object is to provide such 2. ourtain which will have a miximum transparent area, andwhich will be so arranged that it may be brought into inoperative posltion without damage to the transparent portions.

', Another object is to provide such a our- 1 tain which will be somounted as to present of the top.

present no interference with the raising or lowering In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile top provided with the curtain, a portion of the top being cut away to illustrate parts of the structure. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 showing one side of the top and the Fig. 4 1s a mounting of the roller mounting of the curtain. Fig. 3 i s a view showing the roller shifted to lie agalnst' the rear top bow to permit folding of the top. detail view showing the top with the roller in detail view of vertical position. Fig. 5 is a the bow rest iron and the roller mounting carried thereby. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal 'vided with a section through portions of the roller. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view showing a portion of the track wire and the connection of the curtain thereto. Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view showin the curtain profoldable forward extension. on line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a section v to the drawings, there 13 Referring now shown a portion of an automobilebody 10 provided with a top of the usual type, i] 1- eludingan upright bow 11, a diagonal rearward bow 12 pivoted to the bow 1 l and in eluding also a forward upright how 13 and a front stretching bow 14:. These parts are such as are found in the usual automobile v fabric 15. I

' .Secured to the rearward bow 12 and over the top fabric 15 there is a curved plate 16 carrying a pair of rearwardly extending apertured ears 17 and 18, between which threaded bar 23 engaged in threaded openings21 and 22 formed-in the mutually adjacent faces of the two sections. The sec-- tion 22 carries an ear 24: at its outer end, and

. there is thus provided the complete exten sible member 20,..its extension being efiected by turning the two parts with respect to each other to separate them on the threads of the bar 23. I

The ear 2 L has an eye 25 which receives the upper end of a shaft 26 upon. which there is revolubly mounted on ball bearings, a curtain roller 27; This roller has-secured concentrically therewith at its upper end a winding drum 28 having a channel 29 in "its periphery, to receive a c0rd30 to be later described. i

The under surface of the drum 28, projecting toward the roller, is beveled at its .top, and have mounted thereon the usual top edges as shown at 31 to facilitate the'winding of the curtain 32 which is secured to the roller, upon the latter, thus preventing any interference with such winding through engagement of the edge of the curtain with the edge of the drum. The lowerend of the shaft 26 is removably engaged in a mounting carried by the bow rest iron 32. This iron is of peculiar shape, and is designed to accommodate the curtain in the presentinvention. As illustrated especially in Fig. 5, this bow rest iron consists of a vertical portion 33 which is engaged in the bow rest eye 34 carried by the car. The lower part of the portion 33 is bent. outwardly and laterally as shown at 35. and is then bent upwardly parallel to the'portion ;33 as shown at 36., beyond which its extremity is turned, outat' jright; angles as shown at- 37 toreceive thev bow. rest v38. There is thus formed a space abetweenrthe 9W9 :PQIfi RS.

the wire.

33 and 36 for a purpose to be presently described.

Formed on the portion 33 there are a pair of upper and lower spaced resilient ears 40 and 41 between which there is pivoted a horizontalplate 42, the pivotal mounting ofthe lower end of the shaft 26 of the roller 27, and it will be seen that when the shaft is so engaged'the roller will be held vertically at the back of the top.

The curtain '32 is rolled upon the roller 27 so asto pass from the "roller at the outer side thereof and thespace 39 above referred to is providedfor the passage of the curtain therethrough when it is drawn into operative position along the side of the car. To support 'theupper edge of the curtain 32 a track wire 46 is secured at its ends to the foremost and rearmost bows of the top and is suitably mounted on brackets secured to the other bows, as indicated at 4-7, and the upper edge of, the curtain is provided with a hook 48 which engages over and run upon To effect the rolling of the curtain upon the roller 27 and its unrolling therefrom, the cord 30 is secured to the winding surface of the drum 28, from which it is carried forwardly to and around a pulley 50 carried by the stretching bow 14 from which it is carried rearward-1y and is secured to the upper forward corner of the curtain. It will thus be seen that when the inner length of the cord 49 is moved rearwardly, thecurtain will be pulled forwardly and will be unwound from the roller, and since the cord is engaged with the drum, itwill bewound thereupon at its rearward end. He-

. verse movement of the cord results in its un- .cause the curtain to sag.

curtain would result in a slackening of the.

cord 30, which not compensated for would To prevent this sagging of the curtain and keep thecord at all times taut, the cord is provided with an extensible elastic section 51 which is illustrated in the drawings as a helical spring led into the length of the cord. Thus,

I as the curtain unwinds and the cord receives more tension, this is compensated for by the stretching of the spring, and when'thecurtain winds up and the ,cord slack ens, the spring takes up the slack.

So much for the mounting and operation of the curtain when the top is raised. When it is desired to lower the top, it is obvious that a provision must be made for the disposition of the roller 27, and the curtain which has beenwound-thereon. It will be remembered that the lower end of the shaft 26 of the roller 27 has been described as being reniovably engaged in one of the notches of the plate 42. It will also be remembered that the member 20 consists of two sections which are movable pivotally with respect to each other and that this member is pivoted by means of its ear 19 to the plate 16 which is carried by the top of the automobile. This arrangement permits of universal movement of the upper end of the roll when the lower end ofthe shaft is disengaged from the plate 42" and by reason of this structure the lower end ofthe roller may be swung'out from the car, around the bow rest iron 32 and may then be brought agamst the rearmost top how 12 to which it may be secured by a strap 52 or any other suitable fastener. When thus disposed the roller interferes in no way with the lower 111g of the top. The extensible function of the member 20 makes it possible to vary the distance between the upper end of the roller and the how 12' so as to accommodate the de vice to cars of different specific dimensions and so as to also accommodate between the inconvenient or impossible to mount the:

roller at the foremost point to which it is desired to bring the curtain, and there is a provision for such contingencies illustrated in Fig. 80f the drawings in which. the curtain is provided with an extended portion at its forward edge, detached from the cord 49 except for its connection with the main portion of the curtain, and which is adapted to be folded'against the inner surface of the curtain, where it is held by suitable snap fasteners. This extension is indicated at 52 and when the curtain has been drawn out full length this extension may be unsnapped and carried forward to the desired point. One or more buttons or other fasteners may be provided for the lower edge of the cur- I tainas' indicated at '54.. I The ends of the shaft 26 are threaded and are provided with wing nuts 55 and- 56 which may be operated to hold the shaft immovable in its top and bottom mountings, and the lower end of the roller 27 is provided with a flange 57 having its edges flared away rest iron to i cated at a point spaced from from the roller to facilitate the winding of the curtain on the latter. K

As illustrated in the drawings, the mounting of the hook 48 upon the curtain 32 is accomplished through the medium of a relatively short cord or wire 58, of sufficient flexibility to permit it to wind upon the roller, this wire being secured at its ends to the curtain and extending longitudinally thereof, the wire being passed through an eye 59 formed in the hook so that when the hook has reached the roller 50, the'curtain may bestillrdrawn forwardly until the eye of the hook reaches the rearward end of the member 58. The guide wire l6 upon which the hook runs is of course suiliciently flexible to permit folding of the top and is preferably a wire cable.

There is of course an eyelet 60 in the back curtain 61 of the automobile top through which the cord 30 passes to the drum 28.

What is claimed, is

1. The combination with a vehicle top of a revolubly mounted roller adjacent to the top, a winding drum carried by the roller, a curtain engaged with the drum and adapted to be wound thereupon or to be extended in operative relation to the top, a flexible member connected with the curtain, a rotatable mounting for the flexible member lothe roller, said flexible member being carried around and beyond the mounting to the roller and engaged therewith to be wound thereupon, a track, slidable connections between'the curtain and the track, and an extensibly yieldable section in said flexible member.

2. The combination with a vehicle having a foldable top of a revoluble roller connected at its upper end with the top for universal movement with respect to the top, said connection being adjustable to vary the distance between the roller and the top, a bow rest iron connected with the vehicle and including horizontally spaced portions, a bow rest connected with one of said portions, means for detachably connecting the lower end of the roller with the bow rest iron, a curtain carried by the roller and adapted the space between the portions of the bow lie at a side of the top, said roller being adapted for movement upon its universal connection to pass the bow rest to be extended therefrom through iron and lie against the top when detached at its lower end from the bow rest iron.

3. The combination with a vehicle and-a top therefor of a curtain roller connected at its upper end with the top for adjust ment toward and away from the top, a plate pivotally connected with the vehicle for movement toward and away from the latter, said plate having a plurality of peripheral notches, means for holding the plate at different points of its pivotal movement,

means carried by the roller for engagement in the difierent notches interchangeably and a curtain carried by the roller and adapted go be wound thereupon or extended thererom.

4-. The combination with avehicle and a foldable top therefor of a curtain roller removably connected at its upper end with the top for adjustment toward and away from the top, a plate pivotally connected with the vehicle for movement toward and away from the latter, said plate havinga plurality of peripheral notches, means for holding the plate at different points of its pivotal movement, means carried by the roller for removable engagement in. the difierent notches interchangeably and a curtain carried by the roller and adapted to be wound thereupon or extended therefrom, said roller being movable upon its top connection when disengaged at its bottom to lie against the top to permit folding of the latter.

5. The combination with a vehicle having a foldable top of a revoluble roller connected at its upper end to the top and normally arranged vertically, a vertical drum secured to said roller, a curtain on said drum, a pulley attached to the top of the vehicle in advance of the roller and inspaced relation thereto, a flexible member surrounding and attached to the roller and passing forwardly over the'pulley and thence backwardly and attached to the forward edge of the curtain, and aspring interposed in said flexible member to "hold the said member taut,

whereby the curtain on the drum may be.

opened any desired distance and maintained in such position. g

In'testimony whereof, we aflix our signatures,in the presence of two witnesses.

enonen r; SEAR-S. JEHN H. PROSE. ROSEMOND T. ANDERSON.'

Witnesses: r

W. H. LEMLEY, W. E. FELTY.

'iqo 

